1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and information processing apparatus that can create log information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, a multi-function peripheral having functions of, for example, a printer, a copy machine, a facsimile machine, a scanner, etc., is equipped with a function of recording operation contents (hereinafter, recorded data is referred to as log information). Such equipment performs a printing operation by driving a movable part by operating a motor, a relay and a clutch of the equipment in response to a print command supplied from an operation panel or a personal computer (PC). Additionally, maintenance work is done on the equipment in response to a user operation or a use condition of the printer function such as a number of sheets of paper supplied. Thus, each kind of operation of the equipment is recorded in the log information. The log information has been used as one of pieces of information for checking whether equipment is operated normally.
However, recording log information may generate a load to equipment, which tends to increase in recent years. The reason for the increase in load is that if the equipment performs, for example, a printing operation, a various modules such as a carriage, a photosensitive drum, a paper supply device, a fixation device, etc., are operated, so that log information is created for each of the operations of the modules. Additionally, because the equipment performs a printing operation or the like, which is an original operation of the equipment, while the equipment creates log information, such an increase in the load is made more remarkable by the creation of log information and the printing operation being performed simultaneously.
Moreover, if a maintenance person or a maintenance device tries to check the contents of operations of the equipment in more detail, it is requested for the log information to contain more detailed information. Accordingly, the log information may contain various kinds of data such as data for output originator module of the log information, a time stamp, an operation parameter at a current time point. Thus, a recording area necessary for recording the log information is increased, which causes a problem in that it takes a long time for the maintenance person or the maintenance device to retrieve the log information.
There is suggested a technique to reduce a load when creating log information to solve a problem that a load to a CPU is large (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-53783). This patent document discloses an information collecting apparatus for collecting log information without applying a large load to a CPU of a measured device. The load to the CPU is reduced by omitting a process of writing log information in a non-volatile memory by the measured device by collecting operation information directly from a software operation log creation part of the measured device.
Moreover, there is suggested a technique to facilitate retrieval of log information (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2010-98557). This patent document discloses an image processing apparatus for retrieving log information by creating log retrieval condition from a log retrieving operation condition which is input according to the same input method as the input method of the operation condition, wherein operation execution history with respect to execution of image processing operations are stored together with operating conditions with respect to specific kinds of operation.